Starship Troopers was released in 1997, and though stunning in many ways, especially with its amazing visuals(video) and over the top acting(video) it was seen by many to not reach its full potential, but luckily for us it gained a major following over the years since and from here we have seen 2 straight to DVD sequels, 2 animated sequels and an Animated TV show, so what could wrong with the second film in the series Starship Troopers 2: Hero Of The Federation!

Starship Troopers 2 Hero of The Federation was released in 2004 as a sequel to Starship Troopers. We see the return of key characters such as Johnny Rico portrayed by Casper Van Dien (video) and Captain Carmen Ibanez played by Denise Richards(Video)……oh wait…..no, no we didn’t and here is where the problems begin for this poor sequel! Though Casper Van Dien does Revise his role in Starship Troopers 3 (Marauders) though none other of the cast return. The first issue we have with Starship troopers 2 Hero of the federation is we have to get to know a full set of new characters and the reason for this was budget…..being a straight to DVD release Starship Troopers 2 Hero of the Federation only had a Budget of 7 Million compared to Starship Troopers Budget of 100 Million!

The cast in the first Movie were up and comers with massive potential, here though the acting is of a far inferior quality with a number of the actors/characters phoning in their performance(funny phoning in video), but this is only one of the issues.

The second issue with the Budget in the digital animations of the Arachnid and Bugs which are of much inferior quality, a noticeable difference from the first movie which had some of the best Graphics for a film even to this date, even now comparing with many of the films currently being released. The comparison is unbelievable especially as we’ve jumped forward in technology by a good 7-8 years! Everything including the gunfire is just, well just inferior to the original unfortunately.

And the last issue due to the Budget is Action, Starship Troopers is remembered due to it’s amazing Battle scenes such as Whiskey Outpost and Klendathu Dropsite, scenes that make your hairs stand on end, your stomach churn with excitement and your palms sweaty with excitement and anticipation, these battles are massive, EXCITING , EPIC, Visually stunning and most importantly you can actually see them! Something that can’t be said here, the little battle scenes we see are small in scale, shot in the dark making much of the action hard to truly see and all around boring in comparison. I’m not saying they don’t have their moments ofcourse! Hell this film is still about the Federation going toe to toe with the Arachnids and who doesn’t love bugs being blown to hell? But it just does not feel the same I’m afraid, less epic and less grand, in both appearance, scale and quality.

The movie itself starts on on an unknown planet inhabited by the Arachnids, in which a squad of soldiers find themselves pinned down and surrounded by Arachnid forces—even with their new laser gun technology and assistance from the introduction of psychic soldiers, the Arachnid assault overwhelms them. From this General Jack Shepherd (Ed Lauter) decides to make a last stand with four of his best soldiers to allow the majority of his surviving troops to escape. The plan works and the soldiers escape, including Sergeant Dede Rake (Brenda Strong) who also appears as the Starship Captain Captain Deladier in the original Movie (show her dying here), psychic Lieutenant Pavlov Dill (Lawrence Monoson), Private Jill Sandee (Sandrine Holt), her lover Private Duff Horton (Jason-Shane Scott), and Private Lei Sahara (Colleen Porch). Despite reaching relative safety, the team is whittled down one by one by deadly storms and arachnid ambushes. Lieutenant Dill is unable to command his soldiers as he receives traumatic visions of utter annihilation. He takes his anger out on Private Sahara, who is revealed to have been psychic but lost reliable control of her psychic abilities during puberty.

The remaining refugees find themselves sheltering within Hotel Delta 1-8-5, an old and abandoned structure containing Captain V. J. Dax (Richard Burgi), a disgraced soldier with an outstanding combat record. Dax had killed his commanding officer and, as punishment, was sealed in a furnace. As a deadly dust storm kicks up, they find themselves without communications or back-up for a lengthy period of time and protect themselves with an electric pulse fence. Dax assumes command, to the annoyance of Dill; Dax sees Dill as an incompetent leader, while Dill sees Dax as a traitor to the Federation.

Soon after defences are set up, General Shepherd and three soldiers return. While the troops there first think that all but one of their comrades has reached safety, it becomes clear that all their comrades but Shepherd have died, and Shepherd has been rescued by three soldiers including comatose private Charlie Soda (Kelly Carlson); the strangely behaving technical sergeant Ari Peck (J. P. Manoux); and the medic, corporal Joe Griff (Ed Quinn). With the help of the newcomers they solve their technical issues, including lack of communication, and wait for a Fleet dropship to rescue them.

It’s while in Hotel Delta 1-8-5 we encounter a ‘NEW’ breed of Arachnid, a bug that infests the human body by entering through the mouth and propagating inside the brain.

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So Starship Troopers 2 Hero Of The Federation…Does it live up to the amazing visuals and quality of the first movie? Well no, no it doesn’t, but that would always be hard to achieve, especially on such a small budget, but what we are left with is a different incarnation of the arachnid War, it’s interesting at times and enjoyable in it’s own way, especially if you are in to Sci-Fi action films, it will never be as good as the original but it’s ok…and because of this I Would rate Starship Troopers 2 Hero Of The Federation a modest 5.5/10, it’s not for everyone but if you enjoy the franchise then you may just enjoy this as well.

So friends that’s it from me, don’t forget to hit both that like and share button and why not hit that subscribe button in preparation for our next Review, Starship Troopers 3 Marauder, which sees the return of Casper Van Dien as Colonel Johnny Rico.